FIELD NOTES
I didn’t drink coffee until I was 20 years old.
This is how it happened.
The summer before my senior year of college—a million years ago, it feels—I spent six weeks in Spain for a study abroad program. Three other girls and I lived with women who opened their homes to students in the program—two weeks in Alicante with our first host, followed by four weeks in Madrid with our second.
By the second week, I was seriously craving milk.
Milk simply wasn’t consumed the way it was in the United States. It came in small, shelf-stable cartons and, as far as I could tell, was mostly there for coffee.
So one morning at breakfast, I poured myself a cup.
Well, sort of.
It was probably three-quarters milk with a splash of coffee.
I was trying to be polite.
Breakfast usually meant croissants—which, for the record, I am still a complete sucker for—and our coffee was dark and rich, made in a French press. I took a sip and realized something rather surprising:
Coffee was actually delicious.
So the next morning, I poured a little more coffee and a little less milk.
Then a little more coffee.
And a little less milk.
And so it went.
By the time my six weeks in Spain were over, I was a full-blown coffee lover.
I think some of that love is really a love of memory. There are tastes that take you somewhere.
I’ve found a coffee that takes me back to Spain.
Gothic Roast, in particular, is an espresso dark roast from a family-owned and operated roastery in California. They’re amazing, and I have partnered with them for all my coffee and tea. But when I use a French press with whole-bean Gothic Roast that I’ve ground at home, I’m basically back in Madrid—the sun on my shoulders, a cup of coffee in front of me, and people-watching at an outdoor café.
It’s wild how a cup of coffee can do that.
Of course, I’ve ventured beyond dark roast since those first days in Spain.
Editor’s Choice is called that for a reason. It’s a Colombian roast, and I can drink it all day. It’s delicious—familiar enough to become an everyday favorite, but good enough that I look forward to making the next cup.
Then there’s Final Print, our decaf option. If you’re looking for coffee without the caffeine, this one proves that decaf doesn’t have to mean giving up flavor. It’s a Peru roast, and it’s so good that we offer the same roast in its caffeinated form, Opening Line.
Pumpkin Pages is a little different. With fall approaching, it’s the one I’d reach for when I want something seasonal—or when I’m looking for a little gift for someone who loves a pumpkin spice latte. It’s also a perfectly good excuse to make one for yourself.
And then there’s Wild Air, which holds a special place in my heart.
It’s a Bali Blue roast, with notes of baker’s chocolate, orange peel, juniper, and molasses. The moment I tasted it, I knew it was the flavor for a name I already knew I loved.
If you’ve explored the rest of Poplar & Prose, you may have noticed that Emerson's “drink the wild air” is one of our favorite lines. So when I tasted this coffee, with its little bit of chocolate, citrus, spice, and something I can only describe as wild, the name seemed inevitable.
A little different.
A little wild.
Definitely delicious.
I’ve tasted all of the coffees in our Café Collection—and plenty more besides—to decide what belongs here. And I can honestly say that I love them all.
Some are familiar. Some are unexpected. Some remind me of a particular place or moment. Some are simply the coffee I happen to want that morning.
And then, of course, there is Early Edition Earl Grey for the days when you want to shake things up entirely.
Because sometimes the right cup isn’t coffee at all.
Maybe it’s tea.
Maybe it’s coffee made in a French press while you pretend, for a few minutes, that you’re sitting at an outdoor café in Madrid.
Maybe it’s whatever happens to be in your favorite mug while you have a book open beside you.
For me, that’s really what the Café Collection is about.
Not just coffee. The memories, rituals, places, and little pleasures that gather around it.
And if a cup happens to take you somewhere you’ve loved before, all the better.
Explore the Café Collection →
I'd love to know: are you a coffee or tea drinker? Do you remember your first sip? Tell me your story it in the comments below.
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